Paper clip



Nov. 20, 1962 KYRK 3,064,326

PAPER CLIP Filed Aug. 15, 1960 INVENTOR. ANTHONY R. KYRK A T TORNE 1 5United States Patent 3,064,326 PAPER CLH Anthony B. Kyrk, 302 SevilleWay, San Mateo, Calif. Filed Aug. 15, 1960, Ser. No. 49,738 2 Claims.(Cl. 246) This invention relates to an improved paper clip of the typeused to hold several sheets of paper together.

The clip of this invention is an improvement Over previous paper clipsbecause it clamps over the edge of sheets of paper at laterally spacedpoints so it is difficult to pivot the clip and accidentally force itoff the papers. In addition, the clip is relatively long compared to itswidth so that it tends to crease each page as each page is lifted andbent back, resulting in uniform pressure on the whole clip and not juston the ends, as occurs with conventional clips. Moreover, the tendencyto deform the paper in the immediate vicinity of the clip furtherincreases the grip of the clip on the stack of papers.

Briefly, this invention contemplates a paper clip made of a continuousresilient wire and including a first leg, 2. second leg connected to thefirst leg at an obtuse angle, a third leg connected to the second leg atan acute angle, and a fourth leg connected at one end to the third legand at the other end to a fifth leg at an acute angle. A sixth leg isconnected to the fifth leg at an acute angle and terminates adjacent thefirst leg. The junction of the second and third legs and the junction ofthe fifth and sixth legs each forms separate support points for the clipon the edge of the papers, and they are laterally spaced to resistpivoting of the clip on the paper as individual sheets are turned.

Preferably, the third and fifth legs are substantially parallel and aredisposed between the second and sixth legs which are also parallel, andall of these legs lie in the same plane. In the preferred form, themaximum lateral spacing between these legs is substantially less thanthe length of the shortest leg so that the general shape of the clip iselongated.

These and other aspects of the invention will be more fully understoodfrom the following detailed description taken in conjunction withaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the presently preferred embodiment of theinvention; and

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the clip shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 1, the paper clip includes a continuous resilient Wire10, which is bent so that it has a first leg 12, that is inclinedupwardly at a 45 angle to the vertical, as viewed in FIG. 1. The upperend of the first leg is bent at an obtuse angle to the right (as viewedin FIG. 1) to form a second leg 14, which is vertical and inclined at anangle of 135 to the first leg. The upper end of the second leg includesa relatively short curved portion 16 which is curved away from the firstleg, and bent at an acute angle to form the beginning of a third leg 18,which extends downwardly to be substantially parallel to the second leg.

The lower end of the third leg is bent at an obtuse angle to the rightto form a fourth leg 20, which is parallel to the first leg. The lowerend of the fourth leg is bent at an acute angle to form a fifth leg 22,which extends vertically upwardly to be parallel to the second and thirdlegs. The upper end of the fifth leg includes a relatively short curvedportion 24, which is bent at an acute angle to form a sixth leg 26,which extends ver- Patented Nov. 20, 1962 tically downwardly toterminate adjacent to the beginning end of the first leg 12.

As can be seen from FIG. 1, the paper clip i substantially longer thanit is wide, that is, its widest dimension perpendicular to the second,third, fifth, and sixth legs is less than half the length of theshortest of those legs, namely, the third leg.

As shown in FIG. 2, the various legs of the paper clip lie in a commonflat plane.

When the clip is applied to a stack of papers (not shown), the third,fourth and fifth legs go underneath the papers, or on the bottom of thestack, and the first, second, and sixth legs lie on top of the stack.The clip is ordinarily positioned at the upper left corner of the stackand inclined so the first leg is parallel to and adjacent the left edgeof the stack. In this position the curved portions 16 and 24 each fitsnugly over the top edge of the stack and hold the papers securelybecause of the double and laterally spaced gn'p provided by these curvedportions of the clip.

The long straight sixth leg 26 tends to crease each sheet of paper as itis bent back, resulting in uniform pressure on the whole clip, and noton just the ends. Thus, when turning from one page to another the clipdoes not pop off of the stack, as sometimes occurs with prior types ofclips.

If desired, the paper clip can be moved from the position just describedto the center of the stack of papers and be rotated counter clockwise(as viewed in FIG. 1) about the curved portion 16 so that the curvedportion 24 moves a slight distance above the upper edge of the stack ofpapers, thus providing a loop by which the stack of papers or a singlepaper can be hung by a thumb tack or the like.

I claim:

1. A paper clip comprising a continuous resilient wire including a firstleg, a second leg connected to the first leg at an obtuse angle, a thirdleg disposed beside and substantially parallel to the second leg, meansconnecting one end of the third leg to the end of the second leg remotefrom the first leg, a fourth leg connected at one end to the other endof the third leg and at its other end to one end of a fifth leg at anacute angle, and a sixth leg disposed beside and substantially parallelto the fifth leg, and means connecting one end of the sixth leg to theother end of the fifth leg, the sixth leg terminating at its other endadjacent the end of the first leg remote from the junction of the firstand second legs, the junctures of the second and third legs and of thefifth and sixth legs being on a line substantially perpendicular to thefirst leg, and all of the legs being in a common flat plane.

2. A paper clip according to claim 1 in which the fourth leg issubstantially parallel to the first leg.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS488,639 Trowbridge Dec. 27, 1892 802,262 Brooks Oct. 17, 1905 1,456,551Harvey May 29, 1923 1,551,467 Carousso Aug. 25, 1925 1,872,753 KrebsAug. 23, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS 84,056 Switzerland Feb. 2, 1920

